Premier Foods wins extra backing for embattled CEO

Premier Foods has won backing for its under-fire chief executive Gavin Darby from influential shareholder advisory group ISS. Mr Darby has been facing calls for his resignation from Hong Kong-based hedge fund Oasis, which has accused him of being overpaid while overseeing the destruction of shareholder value at the group, whose brands include Mr Kipling cakes, Oxo stock cubes and Batchelors soup. The trustees of the group's pension fund have also publicly backed the embattled CEO. Investor advisory groups Glass Lewis and Pirc have also swung behind keeping Mr Darby at the helm of the business. Oasis holds a 9.3 per cent stake in Premier but is best known for trying to shake up Asian companies such as Japan's Nintendo. The hedge fund issued a 14 page document last month alleging there had been "Five years of failure under Gavin Darby's leadership". Chairman Mr Hamill said on Thursday that "The Board has made a unanimous recommendation to shareholders to vote in favour of the re-election of Gavin Darby."

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